Scandal Us
by darkland
Summary: Justin's affair with Robert ends abruptly and a chain reaction of devastating events is set out in a vicious cycle that destroys the Walker family and the McAllister family forever.
1. Chapter 1

"This is not fair!" Justin screamed at Chad, as he followed his fiancée to the kitchen at Nora's home. They had just stormed out of the dining room, after Chad had a go at Justin for never being there when he needed him. Both men were dressed in a suit and tie, for Nora's birthday and both had angry expressions on their faces.

"No, Justin. You're not being fair to me!" Chad shouted back as he stood across from him pouring himself another glass of wine. "You are never home anymore. You're always out at work. In the past three months you have spent more time caring about spending more time as a paramedic saving lives then you have been at home spending it with me. Justin we are about to adopt a kid together, I thought we agreed that you were going to start being more attentive about our relationship. At this point, we are apart and it's killing me on the inside."

Justin looked at Chad; he searched in his eyes and saw how Chad was cracking under the pressure of their relationship. Their relationship in the beginning had been awesome, they enjoyed each other's company, everything was right between both sides of the families and they had gotten engaged. But things in the last few months had taken a dive, Justin had somewhat pushed him aside, become distant and had started spending time more with work and his family then Chad.

The whole relationship began crumbling when they decided to adopt a child. Having heard advice from Kevin and Scotty about the process, Chad was more interested in adopting a child and starts a family then Justin was. He agreed to it, but Chad had begun to think the distance that drew both of them apart was because Justin was afraid of their relationship and the fact that they were going to be starting a family soon. Chad was worried he didn't want that with him.

"Justin, I can't remember the last time we went out together on a real date and just enjoyed each other." Chad said, his voice trembling, he could feel himself beginning to cry as he slammed the wine glass onto the kitchen bench.

Justin stood there, he could see how his fiancé was, Chad was fragile, and at that moment Justin realized that his negative impact on Chad was destroying. He took a step forward. "I'm sorry."

"I'm scared I'm going to lose you." Chad said in tears. "We're in trouble and you don't seem to care Justin."

"I do." Justin said as he grabbed Chad's crutch of his jeans and began to rub it slowly.

Chad was caught off guard by the move. "What the hell Justin?!"

He shoved Justin's hand away.

"Sex? This is not what it's about!" Chad screamed.

"I thought that's what you wanted." Justin said calmly he pulled Chad in closer and started to kiss him,. Chad struggled in his grasps, but Justin didn't want to fight with his fiancé, he just wanted him in his arms at that moment to let him know that everything was fine.

Chad punched Justin in the guts and Justin took a stumble back. "You don't get me at all, you don't get this relationship Justin! This isn't about sex. It's about us. We're going to have a kid soon! Do you get that?"

"I do." Justin shouted back. "I…I do."

"I don't think you get the seriousness of this relationship these days." Chad said through his tears as he tucked his shirt back in and adjusted himself.

Justin folded his arms, he begun to realize that he had just made the whole situation with his fiancé a lot worse.

He watched Chad grab his car keys. "I am going to go home. Don't you bother following me."

"Chad.. Come on, it was an honest mistake. We can talk about this. Seriously." Justin chased after him as they walked out the kitchen door. "I grabbed you … and I tried to kiss you because I love you."

"Really? You have a fucking funny way of showing it Justin! I am trying to pour out my heart and you think grabbing my crutch is showing me you want to talk about where this relationship is going what am I to you?" Chad turned around and stood beside their car. "God, is sex is all you think about!?"

Inside Kevin, Scotty, Nora, Saul, Kitty, Luc and Sarah were watching through the window. This was the first time they had seen such a massive fight between Justin and Chad.

Justin watched as his fiancé get in their car, start it and drive off in a hurry.

Justin turned around walked back into the kitchen, when he did he saw Scotty and Kevin putting plates in the sink.

He gave the two of them a look and said, "Dinner over?'

"Almost. Kitty's still eating." Kevin said.

"She's pregnant, she's always eating." Justin rolled his eyes. "Is she going to give birth yet?"

"Probably will time it for Robert's baseball game tomorrow night." Kevin laughed.

"I heard that." Robert said as he brung his and Kitty's plates in. He put them in the sink and saw how worried and upset Justin looked. "You okay?"

"Relationship problems." Justin said. He was tempted to have a glass of wine, but he closed his eyes and pushed the temptation out of his mind by just breathing in and breathing out and calming himself down.

"Talk to me." Robert said as he sat down across from Justin at the kitchen island bench.

Kevin and Scotty walked out of the room to give them some privacy.

As soon as they did, Justin put his hand on Robert's knee, feeling the fabric of navy blue suit pants that Robert was airing.

Robert closed his eyes and gulped and found him getting aroused as Justin's hand moved closer to his groin.

"We shouldn't do this here." Justin whispered with a smile as Robert opened his eyes.

"I know." Robert smiled. He felt Justin' hands start rubbing his crutch. Justin smiled as Robert put his hands on Justin's cheeks and pulled him in for a long deep passionate kiss.

Kevin and Scotty had arrived home just after 1am in the morning, Olivia was already in bed and had notified them earlier that she was coming home from her friend's place early, she said she would explain later about it.

"Do you want to know something really juicy?" Kevin asked as he pulled out his phone.

Scotty threw his shoes beside the master bedroom bedside table. "Hope it doesn't keep me up to long, I have to be up at 5am for that chef's conference."

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't realize we were going to be there all night!" Kevin exclaimed. "When Justin had a go at Mum for not providing enough sugar for the donuts, didn't expect Justin to make us a whole new batch and forcing us to help!"

"Maybe he was compensating after his huge fight with Chad." Scotty said as he laid down his head on the pillow, an invitation to sleep.

"The juicy gossip has something to do with Justin. And possibly Chad. And a third party." Kevin smiled. He pulled up a photo of Justin and Robert kissing in the kitchen passionately and showed it to Scotty, whose eyes went wide open in shock and his jaw dropped

"Oh…my….f….ging…..god! No way! Tell me that picture is fake!" Scotty exclaimed as he sat up. His eyes still focused on the photo and then moving to see Scotty's devilish smile on his face. "Justin and Robert Since when!?"

"Who the fuck knows…" Kevin bounced up and down on the bed.

"Kevin, stop that, that donught is still swimming in stomach." Scotty instructed, feeling a bit nauseous.

"Sorry." Kevin stopped bouncing up and down and looked at Scotty. "Who knew huh?"

"I don't get it. He was totally committed to Chad. He really loves him. I don't understand why he would cheat on him" Scotty was shocked, his voice trailed off. He had come to grow close to Justin, then any of the other siblings, and he didn't think Justin would do something so sinister after all the hurt that was caused towards him over the past few years with the family secrets , being back at war, and the ending of his marriage to Rebecca and recently finding out he was gay.

But it was the surprise that Robert was gay that had Kevin and Scotty in disbelief, but they also knew that what Robert and Justin were doing was going ot cause more heartache for the family.

"I just never knew Robert was gay." Scotty said. "Did you pick up any signs when you ran with him on the campaign?"

"Well…not that I should be telling you this, and I don't think he even knew that I know. But he kind of loved looking at some of the men at campaign quarters. Often what not, when he was off looking I would sneak a look. But I thought maybe he was just … you know just checking on their work." Kevin said remembering.

"'Checking on their work'? Come on Kevin…" Scotty giggled. "Even for you…"

"I know!" Kevin exclaimed. "Kitty, she doesn't know, well at least I don't think."

"The wife is always last ot know. We have to get involved in this somehow. Make them see what they are doing is destructive." Scotty suggested.

"Oh no, no no no! Scotty, the last thing we want to do is get involved in something like this, you know how well the mess with Tommy and Julia turned out huh? Neither of them are speaking to the family and I haven't seen my two nieces for 6 ½ months!"

"Clearly Justin needs our help." Scotty argued. "You know as well as I do, Chad and Justin are about to start a family and maybe this is all getting to Justin, maybe he's scared and he's acting out. Trust me, Kevin believe me you and I have been in the exact same situation."

"Except you didn't fuck a relative." Kevin interjected with seriousness but with a wink.

"Get your mind out of the gutter." Scotty ordered as he got up and grabbed his iphone from the dresser. "This is destructive and we should do something."

"If you want to ruin Justin's life and yours, go ahead. Leave me out of it." Kevin said as he pulled the quilt to his chin.

"He's your brother. He did the same for me and you when were going through our rough patch. You owe him one, Kevin Walker." Scotty reminded him gently. He searched Kevin's face, and watched Kevin finally relent.

"Alright, alright. But if this blows up" Kevin started.

Scotty nodded. "I know, I will take the blame and the fall out."

"You're not texting Justin now are you?" Asked Kevin, noticing him on his phone.

"Yes, of course. He needs to know that we know." Scotty said firmly. "Don't worry I am not going to be judgemental or anything."

"God, I love you." Kevin smiled, blowing him a kiss.

"Love you to sweetie." Scotty blew him a kiss back.


	2. Chapter 2

Justin felt his iPhone vibrate in his jacket as he entered his apartment. He didn't feel like going back to Chad's, where he was currently, he figured that they could do with the night apart, and he didn't want to wake him, he was due to get to the hospital for his all nighter/morning shift in a few hours. He looked at the phone and saw the time was just after one thirty, and a 1 unread message from Scotty. He tapped the screen. It read:

_Justin, we know that you and Robert are having an affair. Don't worry. We won't say anything, but I think you and I should talk. Give me a call when you finish work in the morning. Luv Scotty._

Justin dropped his phone to the ground, his eyes opening wide and a sense of embarrassment, shock and humiliation spread across from head to toe. He felt his heart beat harder and found himself breathing harder. _Oh shit!_ He thought. He loved Chad, but he also liked what he had started up with Robert. _Oh crap, crap crap!_

His affair with Robert had started accidently one night after he stormed out of his 30th birthday, which Chad had planned with the Walker family. He had just returned from a 4th short stint in Afghanistan, this time fighting on the frontline and he had lost his best friends, Jason Mcaffery, Kamo Cunningham and Deanna Cunningham (Army Medical Officer who was stitching up the wounded) in a frontline attack. Justin couldn't deal with the fall out of that part of his stint, and he had tried to make no big deal out of his 30th birthday, so he stormed out after chastising his whole family and Chad about losing his best friends. He wasn't sure how, but Robert seemed to get it, get what he had went through out there, and the two eventually and not without a little encouragement from the alcohol, got together and rocked on in bed (so to speak). Ever since they had been inseparable, their affair was turning into something more then sex, it was as if Kitty and Robert were never meant to be but Robert and Justin had a special connection that no one else, not even Nora or Chad, the two most important in Justin's life could understand. He felt right, he felt safe and he felt like Robert understood him and his needs, how he was feeling about everything.

He told himself to calm down, and then sat on the couch and breathed in. Without realizing it, he fell asleep not long after.

Robert found himself sitting by the pool at Nora's place, thinking about his rendezvous with Justin. Kitty and Robert had decided to spend the night, instead of driving back to Santa Monica. The two hour drive would have been horrendous and Robert was way over the limit. Kitty didn't feel like driving either, so they agreed, at Nora's subtle hints, that they stare here for the night. Kitty thought that Nora felt a bit lonely with Brody being away for a funeral, he would be back by the end of the couple days. He sighed and how he got himself in this situation. He loved Kitty, but this affair with Justin, he wasn't sure what he felt about it. Robert sipped his wine and tapped his toes on the water. He was questioning his judgement and this affair and why it started. There was nothing wrong with Kitty, he loved his wife and he loved his adopted son, Evan, 5 years old. He always loved Justin's humour, randomness, seriousness and his commitment to his friends and family , his sense of duty (having served 4 times in Iraq and Afghanistan). Robert thought of Justin, as his first gay crush. Robert didn't define himself gay, but maybe he defined himself Bi-sexual, but no one else knew that and he was struggling with that, and how to break the news to Kitty, if he falls deep for Justin. Would he have to give up his republican ideas? His marriage? Whatever he was feeling, he decided that he needed to put it behind him. This thing with Justin was fun, but he had a career, he had a wife and son and a whole can of Walkers who would rip him apart if they ever knew.

He quickly skulled off the rest of the wine that was in his glass and got up and headed into the house. He felt his phone vibrate, and pulled it out of his jacket. It was from Justin.

_Scotty and Kevin know about us dude. They caught us! What the hell do we do?_ Justin's text read.

Robert felt a lump in his throat and felt his heart racing a mile a minute more then usual, he grabbed onto his chest, worrying for a second that he may have a second heart attack.

In this split moment his decision to end things with Justin by text message, would evidentially see a chain of events fold for Justin and Chad like rip tide forcing it's away down the New York subway at dangerous speeds.

Justin's phone woke him up as he dozed off again he stretched over to the coffee table and grabbed for it. A text message from Robert was on the lock screen of the Apple iPhone.

Justin read the message: _Justin, we had fun, but I have to think about Kitty. You have to think about Chad. Not that you probably would, but…yeah it's over. Catchya! Probably best not to hang out anymore, or continue our close friendship after this…so see ya, good luck with Chad. Don't tell anybody about this._

Justin's eyes started to fill with tears. This was it, Robert was ending it. Justin loved Robert, and he loved Chad, but he loved being with Robert, what they shared emotionally and physically. Their relationship meant something to him. Justin put the phone down and looked at the TV in front of him. Robert had dumped him! By text!

Justin's world was crashing down; he cheated on Chad, thought he had something going with Robert, and was meant to become a father for the first time soon. Now…everything was in shatters.

He wiped the tears from his face and headed to the fridge and found some beer that Kevin had left over from last week's get together. He knew he shouldn't be drinking it, he knew he was a recovering alcoholic. But. He didn't care. Justin, in his own way, knew his life was as over and screwed as ever.

He finished his first can and threw the empty can toward the sink, but it missed. So he opened up another, and another and another, by 4.30am in the morning Justin was fully drunk and was crying his heart out and screaming at no one in particular. He was screaming out for Robert and for Chad, and the loves of his life.

He was angry. "I love them both, I don't know what to do."

Justin found himself throwing every glass and plate he found in the kitchen cabinets on the floor , some of them he threw at the wall at the high extent of his rage and he collapsed on the floor. Guilt now entering his state of mind.

He grabbed his phone and started typing it. He didn't know who he was actually sending it too but in his mind he was texting to Robert.

Kevin's mobile phone started beeping with the sound of music theme song. It woke him up with a jolt.

Scotty started stirring and grunted. "Grrrr…"

"Grrr.." Kevin agreed. He looked at his alarm clock , it read: 4:30am.

Scotty sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. "Who could be calling at this hour? Your mother?"

"Oh no, unless it's an emergency. She's never called before 6am." Kevin slightly smiled as he checked his phone, Scotty watched as his husband's body tensed up and sat forward.

"What is it?" Asked Scotty, sounding worried.

"Uh I just got a text from Justin….um…I don't think it was for me though." Kevin said as he passed the phone to Scotty. He put his hands to his mouth as he watched Scotty gasp and read the text message.

_You fucking cunt Robert?! Why the fuck did you do this to me? Your breaking up with me?! To clear your conscious!? What the fuck dude!? I thought you liked this, you seeked me out, it wasn't the other way aorund1 I betrayed Chad for you! I grew to love you! And your dumping me? Fuck you man! FUCK YOU! Over text message? FUCK YOU FUCK YOU"_

"Oh shit." Scotty looked up.

"'Oh shit' doesn't begin to cover it." Kevin said as he got out of bed. He dialled Justin's mobile number.

Scotty looked at Kevin. "Is he picking up?"

"No, it's going to straight to voice mail." Kevin said. He then left a message on Justin's answering machine. "Hey Justin, it's Kevin.. Can you pick up? Please? I just got your text Please. I'm begging you pick up and talk to me. Okay look, we are on our way. Please don't do anything stupid. We will be at your place in half an hour."

Scotty climbed out of bed and hurried in the bathroom to get changed.

By the time they arrived at Justin's place, it was already just after 5am, as they pulled up , they noticed all the lights were on as well as the porch light. That was a good sign.

"Do you think he's home?" Scotty asked as he undid his seatbelt.

"I would rather him home crying , then going back on the booze or pills." Kevin admitted.

They both walked up to the porch and saw Justin sitting on the couch, the front door was adjar, but when they walked in , they stopped dead in their tracks. Gobsmacked at the mess Justin created, with the smash plates, dvds, cds and wrecked vases and the main living room coffee tables. The floor was in complete mess literally with the things he had thrown all over the room split into huge different piles of messes that couldn't tell what they had been prior to the accident.

Kevin shut the front door and locked it, He and Scotty were looking around and was about to say something more when they could hear sobs coming from a bedroom in the hallway.

"Justin?" Kevin called as Scotty started to clean up, figuring that Kevin would want to talk to Justin on his own. Kevin walked into the main bedroom and found Justin shaking all over on the bed. Half naked. Only wearing blue jeans. The room hadn't been trashed.

Kevin saw Justin's face. Hope , laugh and happiness that had been in his brother's face earlier was now replaced with despair and desperation. His eyes darting from side to side, not focusing on the one same spot, but continuously darting back and forward. Tears streaming down his face and his eyes red from crying

Kevin approached Justin carefully. He had to be very careful what his next choice of words was going to be from his mouth. He didn't want to assume that Justin had taken any pills or if he had consumed alcohol but it was a horrible thought that had entered his mouth.

"Justin… talk to me. We're here." Kevin said as he sat on the edge of his bed watching brother shake nervously and holding onto his arms tightly as if it was only his life moment.

"Kevin, I'm screwed. Robert screwed me over. I've done something bad. Kitty and Chad, they are going to be hurt by this. I've fucked things up." Justin stammered. He looked at Kevin, he could see his brother's gentle careness and concern express love for him at that very moment.

"Justin..you sent me a message about Robert breaking up with you." Kevin said calmly. "You sent it to me by mistake. Words cannot express how shocked Scotty and I are."

Justin looked at him. "Oh man, have you told anyone else?"

"No, god no!" Kevin exclaimed. "At the moment, its going to do more harm then good. I'm more worried about you Justin."

"I don't know how it started Kevin. I really liked him and we started hanging out more and then the next thing I knew… we were in a hotel making love and then it became a full on affair after that."

"How long has it been going on?" Kevin asked.

"A year." Justin admitted.

"You started the affair last year, just before Kitty and Robert got back together after their separation?, my god Justin…." Kevin's eyes were soul searching. He couldn't believe it. Justin was now like his father, William. Cheated on the one person he loved, with someone else's husband. He couldn't fathom why Justin would do such a thing. Kevin had to stop himself form judging, he couldn't really judge, but he was really surprised, as he didn't think his younger brother would have the wondering cheating eye like William.

"I love him." Justin admitted.

"What about Chad?" Asked Kevin.

Scotty was listening outside the doorway. He just wanted to give Justin a hug ,sooth him, make him feel better, but Scotty knew that would not fix the mess that Justin and Robert had created. In this family things were going to be found out and if this was one secret that was meant to be kept buried, it won't stay buried for too much longer.

"I don't know. We've been fighting heaps lately. I love him, but I am not sure I am in love with him anymore. Robert treats me like as if I'm a person you know? With real feelings. He understands what I have been through, what I am going through. With Chad it's an entire different story." Justin explained. In his mind he was trying to justify his affair with Robert, to make it okay, to make it see reason - - make it easier to blame another person for his own actions but his heart knew differently, he knew he had betrayed sister and his fiancée.

Kevin sighed. "Everyone in this family has cheated on their spouses. But Justin, I … I when you tell me this, you remind me of Dad."

"Dude, don't compare me to Dad." Justin snapped. "I did not have an affair for 20 years with a mistress behind Chad's back. There is no comparison."

Kevin sighed. He looked at Justin and then looked away. "Whatever you do, you and Robert can't tell anybody about this."

"I'm not planning to. But I don't know if I can keep this from Chad. He deserves to know the truth." Justin sighed as he got up from his bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked down at the dressor with a photo of him and Chad in it. "He deserves someone better."

"Justin, think about this for a moment, this isn't about you and what you did. If you tell Chad, then Robert has to tell Kitty. They have just gotten their marriage back on track, you can't do this, you can't just tell Chad and expect everything to be rose and dandy, and he dumping you to be the only consequences for what you and Robert have doing behind everyone's backs. See reason here. The mess and fall out is going to be huge. It isn't about you anymore, it's about Kitty and her family too." Kevin explained in a rash and angry tone.

Justin shook his head not knowing what to say.

"This is a mess! He dumped me! And the way he did it! Robert dumped me! He was so cruel , Kevin! It was as if it was a strategic business decision or as if it was a do or die situation! I'm so hurt I'm so confused!" Justin screamed. Kevin nearly jumped 2 spaces, he had never heard Justin so angry, and the viciousness and loudness of his voice. A hidden rage had come out and Kevin was feeling every word of it.

"Why are you here Kevin? Why are you judging me!?" Justin screamed, suddenly turning on his brother. He started towards his brother.

"Justin , you need to calm down!" Kevin screamed, sensing Justin maintain his rage. "Hey, I'm the only one on your side at the moment you don't want to push me away!"

Justin threw a punch at Kevin. "I thought you were on my side kevin!"

Kevin fell on the ground, surprised at Justin's attack and quickly got out of the way before his brother could land him another punch on his face.

Justin started throwing things towards Kevin, kevin quickly when he saw a lamp come flying towards him. Scotty could hear his screams from outside in the living room and hurried in to find Justin yelling uncontrollably and Kevin quickly trying to duck from whatever Justin could throw at him.

"JUSTIN!" Scotty screamed grabbing him from behind and wrapping his arms around his chest. Justin immediately dropped another lamp he had and it smashed beside his feet. "Calm down! Being angry is not going to solve this situation! Calm down!"

Justin tried to wrestle out of Scotty's grip but Scotty held his own and wrestled Justin to the ground. Justin was still screaming for him to get off him.

Scotty climbed to his feet, rubbing his face.

He watched as Justin suddenly burst into tears again and mumble a few things while Scotty kept him in his grip, now embracing him in his hug.

"What have I done, Scotty?" Justin cried through his tears. "What have I done?"

The inconvenient truth of the matter was that it wasn't completely Justin's fault, Robert had pursued the relationship and he knew exactly what he was doing . Kevin's thinks that it wasn't just Justin's fault. Robert was at fault too.

He watched as his little brother broke down completely in Scotty's arms


	3. Chapter 3

Scotty managed to get Justin tucked into bed an hour or so later. Kevin was in the living room finishing off putting the broken items that had been destroyed in Justin's rage into two big plastic bags. Scotty closed Justin's door and walked down the hallway and into the living room. Kevin stopped and looked at him.

"How is he?" Kevin asked with a bit of worry. "I'm really worried that he may do something stupid."

"He's asleep. Finally." Scotty said. "It's almost four. We should get some sleep."

"I'm not comfortable leaving him here alone." Kevin said as he tied the plastic bags up. "Can we stay here?"

"Sure." Scotty said as he leaned toward Kevin and kissed him. "We should ring Michelle and tell her that she will be staying around longer with Olivia and Daniel."

"Already done." Kevin smiled.

"I love you when you read my mind, even though I haven't even thought of it myself." Scotty smiled as they sat down on the couch. "Kevin, this is a mess."

"Well it was better then what it was originally, smashed glasses, cd's.. even a smashed super Nintendo console." Kevin started.

"I meant Justin and Robert. I am not sure who to blame more. No matter what happens everyone in the family is going to get hurt. And I know we said we wouldn't tell anybody, but what if it somehow it gets out? The secrets that have been exposed in this family, it's a miracle you guys haven't shot each other yet. I think this could be the tip of the iceberg. Justin has only just began having a normal life with Chad after the disaster of his 5th stint in Afghanistan… this might push him over the edge." Scotty answered.

"I'm worried too. I am not sure how long this is going to even a remain a secret, we just need to make sure Justin doesn't confront Robert. It will only make things worse. I will though. Robert has to know that we know. No one else does." Kevin said in a serious tone.

"No Kevin, no let's not get involved in this then we already have. I am not going to let you threaten Robert. Because that's exactly what you are going to do. This is between him and Justin. If you make this worse, you are just only going to cause more dramas."

"Look I don't care, Scotty, he has to know that we know, that we won't say anything but we will always know what a scum bag he really is. He married Kitty, started a family and manipulates Justin into an affair. He's gay, he's a closeted gay, and he's hurting my brother and my sister. He's like Dad only hotter."

Scotty blinked and made a disgusting look on his face. "Eww, I don't want to have that image of your dad in my head."

"Yeah, sorry. Look Scotty, trust me. What could I possibly do to make things worse?" Kevin asked, innocently. "Robert needs to know that he's hurting my brother, and my sister and he can't get away with that. He needs to take ownership of what he has caused. If anything happens to Justin, it will be his fault."

"What about his political career? He can kiss the president run for 2015 goodbye." Scotty reminded him. "Look I just think you shouldn't go in half cocked…."

"Scotty. Relax. I'm doing this for Justin. And for Kitty." Kevin said as he hugged Scotty. "I want at least this family to stop having all these secrets being aired, I JUST WANT all of us to be a happy family. Can't we at least be that, without all the affairs dropping in our lap?"

Scotty smiled and kissed Kevin on the forehead. Scotty nodded, he agreed with Kevin's sentiments – there was nothing wrong with having a family that was normal and unburdened by secrets, even if it meant protecting those unbearable secrets."

Robert and Kitty were in the lounge room watching the news unfold on the television about the shock revelations of one of their republican colleagues being deposed from her position in the state of Michigan, after she had been discovered embezzling money from a children's charity to help pay her daughter's wedding and college fees. The news of the storm of Jane Rick-Lee's embezzlement broke about an hour ago, after she had failed , after threats from the media, to take ownership of the allegations and bring forward to the public. Nonetheless it was evident that someone from her office had released those details to the media and was spread on all the news cycles (television, print, online and interviews). The news broke to both Kitty and Robert on their pages, Ipads, Iphones and mobiles. Giving them an early start around 6am. The damage had been done to Jane's constinciey and her job as mayor was now on the line. Other people in the Republican Party in the country were now trying to distance themselves from the mess she had caused on her vilification. She had lost support from the Presidential Republicans and now was facing criminal charges against her. The latest news was that she had been co-orpoerating with police on the matter and had been taken to the police station.

"As a mother, and as a republican what she did offends me morally and as a person." Kitty said as she and Robert drank their coffees watching the news unfold on CNN. "A children's charity fun. Really? She's a trator the American public and to our party."

"I don't know what's worse, her public official twitter she said "I didn't think I doing anything a normal American would do." Or her lawyer stating "She was only thinking of her children.". How can she sit there and justify that she was doing the right thing? No wonder know one voted for us in the local elections, last year, people are sick of corruption in our party." Robert said with distaste and hatred in his voice.

"We are going to be taking a huge hit in the next poll run this week." Kitty said with worry. "I just hope this will wash over by the time you run for senate re-election again next week."

Robert sighed. "It's going to blow my mind if we don't take a hit. But I can spin this. The public aren't' stupid enough to put this onto us."

"Yeah, well don't be too sure. If we are to retain our seat, we are going to come up with a raft changes for the state of California. We need to start thinking about putting gay marriage on the table again, Robert. I know you said it is a non-issue every year, but this topic isn't going away. Neither is carbon pricing nor the fact is global warming." Kitty said as she looked at some paper work on her table.

"You know my stance on those issues. You know we are not going to put those up for the debate, so you might as well move on." Robert said in a matter of fact tone. He sounded frustrated and grumpy when she bought those political issues up, but the fact of the matter was, he wasn't grumpy at that, he was thinking about Justin and the way he dumped him. He had not slept at all last night after the way he dumped Justin, he cared for him still and the most bothering part of the affair was that he made a huge mistake in dumping him. He wanted to be with him.

Kitty sighed. "Okay. Fine. I guess I should just go work on your press statement with Josh and Erica."

"Press statement for what?" Robert snapped. "About this?" He pointed to the irritating brunette that was on tv with reporters hounding her with questions as she was walking out of the her republican office in Michigan.

"Well yeah, every senator is going to be putting up a press release about this. If not in front of the camera, but on their websites." Kitty reminded him. "What Robert? You don't think you should make a press statement in regards to Jane's fraudulent activities?"

"Well one she is a friend and she has saved my ass on more then one occasion, so I think I owe it to her, not to put her down to the dogs swarming around her at the moment. I owe Jane at least that." Robert told Kitty. Kitty looked at him suspiciously, questioning where this passion was to defend someone who did the wrong thing and was going to pay for it in the court of law . Someone who defamed the Republican image, brand and name to the country and to the world who believed in their political beliefs, truth and dignity.

"Honestly Robert, for the last few months you have just been impossible. You have done a complete turnaround on your pirorities. If this was a democratic in this position you'd have no quarms in calling for his beheading!" Kitty shouted. She didn't mean to lose it, but she did. She was sick of walking on edge shells, not knowing where Robert was with his train of thought. Oh Kitty. If only she knew what he had been doing behind her back.

"Your good guy act isn't going to get you back into the senate for the third term. You have to start playing hardball and let go of all the screws that you are holding onto!" Kitty said angrily as she rubbed her stomach. She felt a pain in her stomach. She sat down.

"Are you okay?" Robert asked, quickly attending to her. "Is it the baby?"

"No, it was just a sharp pain. And it wasn't a contraction either, bob." Kitty said with a bit of worry. "But I'll be fine. After I take Evan to school I will come home and rest and you need to go to the office and I will email you a draft of the public disannouncement of queen diva on tv."

"Kitty maybe you should just take it easy. You have been getting stomach pains for the last few days. I'm surprised your mother hasn't driven you to the doctor herself!" Robert exclaimed and suggested as he sat next to her. As he did he felt his heart begin to break and his thoughts of Justin appeared in his mind. It was at this moment his guilt began As he stroked his wife's shoulder, comforting her as she was working through her discomfort form the pain that engulfed her his guilt consumed him and he felt like he was going to burst into tears at that very moment.

Kitty breathed in as their 8 year old son Evan entered the room, with his backpack over one shoulder and his Ipad Mini in his other hand.

"Mum are you ready, I have to get to the library!" He exclaimed as he walked up to her.

"Mummy will be ready in a minute." Robert said to Evan with a smile.

"Are you okay mum?" Evan asked in concern. For an eight year old he was quite alert and in tune with other people's feelings. Maybe he spent too much time with Nora, but he was really going to be one of those caring men when he grew up. It wouldn't be hard to imagine if he was in the social services area.

"Little man, I am fine, just a bit tired." Kitty said with a smile as she embraced him in a kiss, touched by his concern for her and his unborn brother or sister.

"Is it stuck or something? The baby?" Evan asked randomly.

Kitty and Robert looked at eachother and burst out in laughing. It was typical Evan McAllister. He had a weird sense of humor and it was dry and confronting at the same time, often leaving some of the members in the Walker Family quite dumbfounded (mainly Justin and kevin).

"No I'm just tired is all mummy didn't sleep well. Are you ready for school? Are you ready for your spelling test?" Asked Kitty as she stood up. Robert noticed she was gripping her sides of her stomach in pain. She was now at 7 months pregnancy. Of al the stages of the pregnancy, there had been no signs of if there was anything wrong. Everything was tip top shape. Robert stood up and followed Kitty into the kitchen while Evan waited by the entrance to the front door hallway.

"Kitty, you are in pain. It's getting worse. If you think I hadn't noticed over the last month that it's getting worse, you clearly would be mistaken." Robert edged her own, worried. "Please don't come into the office today, just go to the doctors tell him what's going on. I don't want anything to happen to you or our baby."

"Oh are you saying you don't trust my judgement?" Kitty snapped back.

"I tell ya, your mood swings weren't as bad when you miscarried." Robert said. He immediately regret saying those words because the next thing he knew Kitty slapped him across the face, a fiery look appearing on her face as she watched him rub his job.

"You bastard, Robert." Kitty shouted. "I know my own baby, I know my body! You don't. I know when and if I need to go see the doctors, I damn well won't be bullied or guilt tripped into it!"

She stormed out. Robert called out after his wife, still rubbing his jaw, her slap packed a punch and he heard the door slam hard behind her and Evan.

Robert didn't understand why he said what he had just said to her. It was a dumb mistake and as he went to grab a glass of water from the tap he shook his head. His mind kept going back to Justin. He sighed and felt his heart beat out of his chest. What he wouldn't give to be in Justin's arms again. But Robert had fucked that up. He was torn, between his sense of duty of marriage and family tradition and values, life and public life as a republican and his real heart and affair with Justin. He didn't believe he could ever love two people at once –but he did and he inevitable through one away and hurt him in the process.

He felt himself break down in tears as he remembered the brush off message he gave Justin that night. Robert could imagine what mess that may have caused his ex-man stress. Part of him at this moment wanted to get up the courage to get to his Iphone and ring up Justin and make things okay – but he knew that would never happen. The last year he was in love, a strange new feeling of love that he felt with Kitty at first but slowly disappeared into the air and never to be found again. He was stuck. He had nowhere to go except continue to hurt Kitty and cause pain for Justin and he realized he was a coward for doing so. A coward that stood for only one thing now – Heart breaker.

**9.15am**

**Café 365**

Kevin stood in his office at Café 365 thinking about Justin and Robert's affair. He couldn't help himself. The anger inside him was gone and he was now thinking of the hurt that came along when you find out when someone you considered a best friend, and a confidant was cheating on your sister with your brother. It didn't make sense to Kevin. He couldn't make any sense of what Robert was thinking and of all people – Justin. Why did they do it? Why? There was so many questions and he had so many for Justin, but he didn't want the poor bloke , who had just got dumped like a hallmark Christmas card, to go through all that hurt and pain that he was feeling last night.

Scotty was in the kitchen preparing for the lunch menu, and Kevin was supposed to help but he didn't feel like going in there, having to face Nora and Saul who were helping out, and knowing the truth. He looked at his iPad and switched to the Calendar app and noticed that he had a lunch appointment with Kitty and Sarah at Flamingos downtown, a half hour drive from Café 365. Kevin couldn't bear to face her. He couldn't. He knew if he did, he would blab and break down about it. So he decided to cancel the meeting by sending Kitty an email. He was going to cancel on Sarah as well and not make it look suspicious.

He sat back at his desk and looked out the window. He was not concentrating. He had it with this family. When there was so much glance of happiness heading to the Walkers, there was also something tearing them apart. There was a price for being happy, a heavy evil price which has been bestowed upon them by the great "almighty god". Kevin couldn't help be cynical. The last few years taught him a lot. Be prepared for anything and don't take anything for face value.

"Kevin?" A voice interrupted his thoughts.

Saul was standing at the door way.

"Hey." Kevin said as he sat up straight at his desk and cleared his throat.

"Instead of staring out the window and pondering life's questions, do you mind helping us the kitchen please? We're under staff and Nora and I aren't cutting it until the temporary fillers get here." Saul asked in a nice and police but firm tone. "Scotty could use you in there too."

"Look Saul I would, I'm just not in the mood." Kevin said with a smile. "Plus I have a ton of paper work to fill out for court tomorrow. You know these social cases, paper, paper, paper!"

He slammed his hand on the desk. Anger betraying his sarcasm and Saul noticed this. Saul noticed when Kevin was angry and he often tried to stare him away from it, but often not he would counsel him when need be.

Saul frowned and approached him. "Kevin? What's wrong? You're upset!"

"Pointing out the obvious." Kevin said trying to keep from choking up in tears. He found himself cursing in his mind for being too sensitive. He covered his eyes.

"Kevin?" Saul asked gently as he sat down across from him, leaning forward. "Talk to me."

"Saul, I can't." Kevin said as he revealed his tears rolling down his face. "What I know, could destroy this family and I don't know if it could ever repair itself. So no I can't tell you."

"Is it that bad?" Saul asked with concern and worry.

"It's bad. Let's just say that this is something that I can't be pressed on." Kevin said with certainly. He adjusted his suit trousers and re-tucked some of his business shirt back in.

Saul sighed and stood up. "In the end, whatever it is you are hiding, and if it's for your own sake, or for someone else's, I just hope that you know what you are doing. In this family hiding secrets seems to be quite a curse. The fall out is often worse enough if you don't come forward. Just think about that."

Saul then left the room shutting the door quietly, leaving Kevin to ponder his thoughts once more.

Kevin grabbed out his Iphone and decided to dial Robert's number. He had to get the truth from his brother in law. He had to know why. Why this happened. Why he had to do this to Justin and Kitty.

"McCallister…." Kevin said, a bit of hate in his voice. "It's Kevin. We need to talk. Meet me at National Ryde Park on the corner of Lord and 8th. No, I don't want to say anything over the phone. I don't want the others to overhear. Yeah I guess you can say I'm upset. And yeah it's serious. Oh and fuck-face?, come alone. No security guards, no anything. No Kitty." Kevin said sternly and cold into the receiver. He then slammed his iPhone onto the desk screen down in anger.


	4. Chapter 4

Kevin made sure that his suit jacket was buttoned up and his tie was straightened. Even though he was so angry by Robert's betrayl, he still liked to look the best for his brother in law. Kevin wasn't sure why he was always seeking his approval of his look from him but he did, and it was a little habit that he didn't really care. He sat on the park bench watching the rest of society living their lives, blissfully in the sunshine, leading their perfect lives with their perfect child while Kevin was tormented by the latest family revelation. He was glad to be out of the café, if he had to stomach with Nora begging him to tell him what's up and no doubt Saul may have raised a question about Kevin to Nora, he would have spilled the beans straight away, but there was so much at stake, not just his own moral views. But the lives that were going to be wrecked if the secret he was hiding had been revealed.

Kevin crossed his legs and and noticed a crease in his black pants. "Damn, stupid creases." He would just fix it when he got home.

He saw Robert walking from a car park at the end of the park. It was the moment that Kevin had to have. Privately. Confront him about it. Kevin wasn't sure what he was going to say, all he knew that he was uncomfortable with it and that his loyalty was to Justin and to kitty and that whatever best friendship that they had together had to be disbanded.

Kevin closed his eyes and let the breeze take him away to another place, with Scotty, Olivia and Daniel. Somewhere away from the mess that he had gotten himself into with Justin and Robert.

Suddenly Robert's voice interrupted that perfect and happy place that Kevin was fantasying about in his mind.

Kevin opened his eyes and saw Robert standing there with a cup of coffee in his hand, acting casual and friendly as if there was nothing wrong, wearing that black suit and blue tie and blue shirt combo.

Kevin felt nauseous even looking at him. He felt his heart to begin to pound a million miles a minute.

"Kevin, what's up?" Asked Robert. "I am not sure why we are meeting here or why you were so cryptic on the phone. I'm busy, so can we make this quick?"

"I know alright!?" Kevin screamed throwing his coffee on Robert's suit . Robert jumped back in shock.

"Kevin you just got…!" Robert shouted back. "And know about what?"

"I know you and Justin have been having an affair!" Kevin screamed. He didn't know how else to explode the news to his now former best friend.

Robert's face drained of its colour as he looked at Kevin who was in tears. Robert was dreading this moment . Being confronted by his affair with Justin. He was now seeing at first hand that if it got out to Chad or to Kitty and rest the family it was going to be a political and a family meltdown.

"i… Look, I …" Robert started to say. But he was at lost for words. "Kevin it just happened."

"Dandruff in the walker family happens! Not a spontaneous affair with my younger brother who is already fighting like tooth and nails to keep his relationship with Chad sustainable! My god Robert, this family and you know this family has been through scandal after scandal after scandal and we are still reeling from what William Walker did to us! We are now at a place where we can somewhat let it go! But…. But THEN I get a text message form my own brother! That was meant for you!" Kevin screamed in his face.

"You dumped him like a piece of meat! You screwed with his head! You confused him even more! What about kitty!?" Kevin continued in his tirade against Robert. He pushed Robert again.

Kevin looked away and tried to calm himself down.

Robert stood there, shaking that he had now been caught out and that someone had known about the affair. "I love Kitty."

"Bullshit!" Kevin turned to face him.

"I do! I swear! It's just…. When Justin and I hang out it was easy and at the time Kitty and I were having trouble and we had separated and I needed…" Robert started, practically begging in his voice for Kevin to hear him out.

"So you what you had to seek comfort in Justin? You couldn't try and be there for Kitty and get marriage counselling. You couldn't at least try and seek comfort with her before seeking comfort in Justin. Which brings me back to this – you knew Justin is with Chad, but you still went after him." Kevin angrily accused.

"Hey there are two sides to this story, Justin didn't exactly say no to my advances. He was craving something new as well." Robert admitted. "It wasn't a full blown affair straight way, Kevin. It developed over time. I care for him, I love him. But the problem is I love Kitty, and I have to think about my political career. I had to end it before someone found out about it. But apparently you did. I didn't do this to use and hurt him."

Kevin sighed. "You betrayed Kitty. I don't know how you can sit there and project that you can love two people and be okay with that. I hear you speak, and you are trying to justify that what you did was okay. You don't care about Justin or Kitty. I don't think you even love either of them. This is is some sort of sick game to you."

Robert sighed. "I won't be spoken to like this. I'm a US Senator, and I can make things extraordinary difficult for you and Scotty. I'm begging you to drop this. This does not concern you."

"Justin and Kitty are my concern, not you Robert. As far as I am concerned you are dead to me and your threats mean nothing. You may be a US Senator, but don't forget what kind of man you really are. You're a disgusting pig." Kevin edged closed to his face.

Robert stared at his brother in law. Stared at him down. His fear was now being replaced with anger. He hated Kevin's self righteous attitude, the supority that he was better then Robert, as if he had the perfect relationship and that Robert was no better man then he was.

"I resent the implication that I don't love kitty and Justin. I love them both. You have no right to be here. This is none of your business. And I am warning you Kevin, if you made life difficult for me, and my family. My son. My wife. My unborn child, I will do something to you that no one will see coming. That I can promise you." Robert said with sudden threat now slowly appearing in his voice. He was sick of Kevin's single-minded judgemental view and he hated the way that he was threatening him.

Kevin glared at him. "You're a creep, Robert. A fucking creep. I have the good mind to tell Kitty right now."

"No you won't!" Robert screamed. He grabbed Kevin by the neck and knocked him to the ground, much to Kevin's surprise. They began rolling around and evidentially rolled into some thick bushes. Both trying to claw at each other. Kevin was trying to defend himself as Robert started to land a few punches to his face. Kevin tried to duck but he suddenly couldn't get out of Robert's grips. He then realized why, Robert's knee was on his left knee and his other leg was on his groin. Kevin tried to scream for him to get off but Robert covered his mouth with one hand and began choking him with the other. His hands pressing hard against Kevin' throat.

Kevin struggled to breathe and struggled for breath as he watched his attacker's face change from shock to surprise and then to a final act of aggression. Robert wanted to let go of Kevin . He wanted to let go of him and pretend that he wasn't going to do what he was about to do, there had to be another way, but he couldn't. He couldn't. He had to think of his marriage, his career, his family. There was so much at stake that he couldn't afford to jeopardise. He couldn't let Kevin or anyone else who knew about his affair with Justin take him down.

Kevin's eyes rolled back to the back of his head. Robert felt Kevin's struggles begin to die down and his raspy breath begin to be replaced by soft gurgling. Robert continued on his tight grip on Kevin's neck, still having second thoughts, but he squeezed tighter and pushed his doubts to the side.

He watched Kevin's arms drop from his wrists and onto the dirty soil, and watched as Kevin's gurgling began to stop. The life was almost completely drained out of Kevin, Robert began to panic, still his hands wrapped tightly on his throat. A minute more. Just another minute more. Robert finally let go and gasped and whispered. "Oh dear god."

He looked at Kevin's now lifeless body, his suit dirty with soil and dirty leaves and his face completely drained of his life. His eyes staring blankly at the sky. An empty vessel. There was nothing left. Robert immediately threw up by Kevin's body, the shock of what he just done now finally sinking through. Seeing a dead body, at his own very hand.

Robert burst into tears, not for the guilt of killing his brother in law, but for now realizing that the truth of his affair with Justin was never going to get out. He buried his head into his hands as the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

Scotty was getting ready for the dinner rush, frantically worrying about why Kevin wasn't returning his phone calls. He had been gone all morning and all afternoon and it wasn't like him to not touch base. He had rung Nora, Kitty, Sarah and Justin and Chad but they hadn't seen him, only kitty mentioned that he had cancelled their lunch plans with Sarah.

Scotty was adjusting his chef's uniform while Olivia was playing with Daniel in the living. For fourteen-year-old girl, she certainly had the great mindset of an adult. Already keen to be a good babysitter and sister to her baby brother Daniel, who was nearly going to turn one years old. Scotty was nervous about leaving her alone with Daniel for the first time without Nora around. But He and Kevin had decided that Olivia had proven herself again and again she was a responsible and mature adult ready to baby sit her own brother.

As he watched them play together in the lounge area, Scotty picked up his cell phone and hit speed dial to Kevin's number. His heart was beating faster as Kevin 's voice message started playing again.

"Hi you reached Kevin Walker, I'm unavailable at the moment, leave a message and I will get back to you. See ya!" Kevin's chirpy voice said into the phone's speaker.

"Hey, hun, it's me again. I've left you a dozen of messages , I've been trying to call you all day. It's nearly 5pm and I am about to head to work, where are you Kevin?" Scotty's voice was fragile and worried. "Please call me. I am not sure what's happening, but please, I'm stressing out."

Olivia could sense something was wrong as she heard her dad's frantic speaking into his phone. She watched as he put it in his black trousers and he grabbed his key from the bench. "Is Kevin still not answering his phone?"

"No he isn't." Scotty said with a slight worry but put on a smile face so that his daughter didn't sense the worry, but he felt like she already knew something was a miss. "If he rings can you text me?"

"Maybe he's with clients, or he's in court?" Olivia smiled. "You know what he's like. He's always got his phone off when he's doing that stuff. And sure I will let you know."

Scotty shrugged. "Who knows? It's never like him to be out of contact with me for so long, or you for that matter. Now Daniel's bottle is in the fridge, are you sure you are gonna be okay to feed him? If you need help, just call Grandma Nora, and she will be over here like a flat bread pie on rice."

Olivia frowned. "What the f…?"

"Language." Scotty warned.

"And sure, Scotty, I will be fine. You and Kevin have told me the correct way to feed Daniel. It's cool I got this." Olivia smiled. "Sure, I bet she is sitting in the car and waiting for me to make one huge mistake and come over here and take over."

Scotty smiled and approached her. "Hey, that's not true. Nora just wants to make sure that you will do a good job."

"But sometimes I feel that she is always the one that has to babysit. Her reaction the other night was pretty much a reflection of that, when you told her that I was going to be babysitting Daniel on my own. She practically gave me us the silent treatment all night after that." Olivia recalled with a bit of anger in her. "I don't like way she does this."

"You've known her a long time and she can't change. She just loves her grandchild. She loves you as well." Scotty reminded her. "And you will do great tonight! We believe in you. Daniel does too, if that makes sense."

"You're such a sack, Scotty." Olivia laughed.

"On that note I'm off to work." Scotty said giving Olivia and Daniel a quick kiss, he then left the apartment, deep down very worried about Kevin not making contact with him. He knew Olivia was worried too, they all were.

Justin was on the couch just channel surfing when Chad walked in Justin's apartment.

He looked up. "Hey, bro."

Chad smiled. "Hey, sorry I'm late."

"That's cool." Justin said held absently, thinking about Robert and his affair. "Glad you could come over."

"Anything for you hun." Chad said with a smile as he shared a kiss with Justin. Chad passionately kissed him, but he noticed that Justin wasn't passionately kissing him back, it was lacking, and there was no effort in the kiss. He had a hard day work and he didn't have the energy to get into a fight with Justin about their recent relationship problems. Chad sighed and dismembered himself from the kiss and walked toward the kitchen. He was dumbfounded. There was no food for him on the table. The kitchen was clean and there had been nothing to indicate that Justin had cooked dinner or even was going to prepare dinner. Chad angrily dumped his bag on the table , forgetting for the brief moment that he had his shiny new mac book trash pro in the bag.

"Justin!" Chad screamed. "Where's dinner? I'm hungry! I thought the whole point tonight was to have a romantic dinner! I expected you to cook me dinner."

Chad's frusturation in his voice, caught Justin by surprise but he didn't show it. He couldn't care less. All Justin was thinking about was Robert. Wondering what he was doing and whether his second love of his life was thinking of him and how he dumped him. Justin began to tune out when Chad continued to start bitching about their ruined romantic dinner plans. He sighed heavily and laid on the couch. Chad was continuing to yell at him, demanding why he was ignoring him and that this relationship was in trouble and he didn't seem to care.

"I give up, Justin." Chad said angrily. "I'm going to have a shower, and then I'm going to go to bed. Maybe in the morning you will be more responsive. I just I don't know how much I can take anymore."

Justin ignored Chad's comments, a bit stung about what he had said, but he couldn't help but ignore it though. He really was in love with Chad much these days. He was sick of the over dramatics in this relationship. Just so sick of it.

Justin grabbed his phone and rang Kevin. He needed to chat to his brother, since he and Scotty knew of his affair with Robert; it made sense to chat to him. He could trust Kevin. He wouldn't tell a soul.

However Justin was yet again disappointed that Kevin's phone didn't ring out but when straight to voice message instead. And an extra message saying that his inbox was full and couldn't save any more messages until it was deleted. Something sunk deeply in Justin's gut. Something wasn't right. Kevin was all over his phone at night. He always answered it, he always did.

Justin sat up. Did Kevin say something to Robert? Did they have words? He had heard Kevin discussing with Scotty last night that he was planning to go confront Robert about the affair he was having.

_Oh God, Kevin…. I hope you didn't do anything stupid._ Justin thought. He grabbed his jacket form the coat hanger by the front door and his keys and wallet and debated whether to tell Chad where he was going, but he decided not to – he would spare both of them another fight. They already had plenty of them.

Robert was in the master bedroom sitting on the bed . Sitting and staring. Thinking about Kevin's body lying in the bushes at the park they had met.

He wanted to make a phone call and alert police, but the second he did that, things would get pieced together and he had to spare Kitty and the family for what he had done. He brutally murdered one of their own. The fall out, of that and his affair with Justin would just not only destroy them but his political career and he would suffer a fate worse then death – jail and a disruption by the Republican career. His career and his family, and marriage meant so much to him. Robert wrestled with a great deal with his guilt. He knew he loved Justin, but if there was another time and place where they could be together, and things in this world were different and they would have been.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Robert jumped off the bed and put a shirt on and headed straight down stairs to see Kitty open the door and there stood Justin.

"Justin!" Kitty said surprisingly, with a smile.

"Hey sis! Thought I'd pop around!" Justin said embracing his sister in a hug. "Wow you look good, your definitely showing, as is your boobies!"

Justin flinched when kitty playfully on the chest. "Sorry! Was kidding!?"

"Justin, hey." Robert said, trying to hide his nervously. Justin ignored him at first and then decided to say hi, just in case Kitty picked up on any of the tension between the two of them.

"Hey listen, I am not here on a social call. I just rang Sarah and Uncle Saul. I'm trying to track down Kevin." Justin said with worry in his voice. "Mom hasn't heard from him all day and he was supposed to pop around tonight to help her with some stuff in the garage, and he evidentially cancelled a lunch plans with you and Sarah from what she was saying. Have you guy's head from him? I've been trying to call him but there has been nothing and his inbox is full."

"I know he did cancel lunch. He emailed me to cancel it. That was about mid morning around 10.30am. I didn't hear from him after that. He never replied to my emails. I sent at least 3." Kitty said as she looked at Justin and then at her husband.

Robert quickly nodded. "I haven't heard from him."

"Really?" Asked Justin, not believing a word from his ex. He frowned, and saw the worried look in Robert's eyes. "Because I heard he was coming to see you to sign some papers today."

"Really?" Kitty asked. "That's news to me. Robert would have told me."

"Oh yeah um he rang and he said he had to do some court appearances, pro-bonos this afternoon. He said he had to reschedule." Robert quickly said and clearing his throat.

Justin folded his arms. "Are you sure Robert? You didn't meet him at all? Because he was worried about these 'papers'."

Robert knew at once he knew what Justin was talking about. Their affair.

Kitty frowned. "Look Justin, Kevin has dropped the ball and rescheduled every appointment he made for today for work. What else is new, there's nothing to worry about."

"I'm pretty sure you would think that Kitty. But _you_ should be worried. I just got off the phone with Scotty and he had to leave work early tonight he's really worried. He never misses a message from his husband. They're always on the phone, even in the same room." Justin practically shouted.

"Hey, don't shout at my wife." Robert snapped.

"Oh, you care about Kitty now?" Justin snapped back.

"Hey that's enough! You smarten up or get the hell out of my house!" Robert shouted.

"Enough both of you!" Kitty yelled, surprised by the two boys now facing off at each other. "Let's just all relax, I don't understand how you two are fighting like children. Come on, look Justin, I'm sure Kevin is fine. He will be home relaxing. I'm sure of it. Robert, Justin was just concerned okay he wasn't implying that you didn't care. Let's just drop it. Let's have a coffee. I want to hear about what's happening with your medical studies." Kitty said calmly. She led Justin in the kitchen, leaving Robert standing there shaking his head.

In the bushlands at the park, Kevin began to stir and come to. He groaned and tried to move his leg but he gasped in pain. He tried to move his head but a sharp pain that felt like a sledge hammer biting to the back of it consume him as he slowly moved it from the ground. His arms, ached, he felt pain in his ribs as well. He groaned and tried to turn to his side but he couldn't, as the sharp pain in his ribs and face came shooting back towards him. He groaned and held onto his ribs, and then passed out again.

Kevin woke up to bright lights and noises surrounding him. His vision was blurred and he could hear people shuffling around him.

"Mr Walker, is Dr Dyatt, how are you feeling?" The croaky voice said to him.

Kevin looked to his left to see Scotty behind the doctor with his hand close to his chest and Olivia beside him. He slightly smiled, but stopped when his joints in his face began to hurt again.

"In pain." Kevin tried to say, but all came out was the word "pan."

Dr Dyatt mumbled to a nurse to up the morphine and then turned back to Kevin. "Mr Walker, you are in the hospital. You were found bashed in bushlands in a park. Do you remember?"

Kevin thought to himself. _Bashed? I was almost murdered by my brother in law! Yeah bashing should now be associated with murder nowadays._ He nodded. He remembered. It was all coming back to him. He could close his eyes and still feel Robert's hands tighten across his throat and the evil look of panic and anger on his face.

Kevin felt his heart racing again and the monitor machine reflected this.

Scotty burst into tears. "Kevin!"

Olivia had to hold Scotty back as the doctor's and nurses rushed to Kevin's side. Kevin's eyes rolled to the back of his head and now were in a full cardiac arrest. One of the nurses urged Olivia and Scotty to leave the room.

"Kevin!" Scotty screamed as they closed the door on him. Scotty's fears were coming true. This could be it, Kevin as going to die. "OH MY GOD!"

Olivia led Scotty back to the waiting room, remaining silent, as to not to upset him even more. She was devastated, her father had been attacked and left to die in bushlands in a park somewhere and could have frozen to death, and now to only be suffering cardiac arrest.

Nora, Justin, Kitty, Sarah, Joe and Saul were sitting there and looked up and hurried over when they saw Olivia and Scotty approach them.

"Oh my god, Scotty!" Nora hurried over, tears in her eyes. "Tell me, what's happening? How is he?"

"He. He….He…" Scotty couldn't get the words out. He couldn't get over how sick Kevin was, lying in the hospital bed with cuts and abrasions and a stick over his eyes and more wound marks all over his body and then suddenly going into cardiac arrest. Nora approached him and pushed her grand daughter to the side and Scotty, to find a doctor. "

Can somebody tell me what is going on with my son, Kevin Walker!? Please!" She looked around to see nurses around the station looking around and making comments, but not doing anything to help a frantic Nora. She turned to see Dr Dyatt coming out of one of the rooms Kevin was in.

"Nora Walker?" Dr Dyatt asked. He got her name from the next of kin lists that Kevin had on file here at the Memorial Hospital, but also from Scotty as well.

"Yes, yes, Kevin?" Nora asked.

"I'm also looking for Scotty Wendall-Walker? His husband?" Asked Dr Dyatt. "I need to speak to you both."

"Scotty!" Nora called frantically.


End file.
